Summer Camp Prep 2026

Summer Goal:

I will be out of town for much of the duration of summer camp, and though I'm excited to participate for the first time, I'm setting a reasonable goal: at least 8 prompts.

These prompts will be completed for my newly named world, Sonatine, which has long inspired a story I shall one day write. Until I am experienced enough as a writer to complete a series of epic fantasy novels, it will stay a worldbuilding project only, but I still want to work on developing the world with prompts when I can!

Week 1

Warm-up Prompt:

Across the realm of Sonatine, music is viewed as one of the most important and beautiful parts of the world. In the wildflower fields and towering peaks of Kaldrvik, the northernmost inhabited region of the world, love is just as important. The village of Asthald is an isolated and small one, found far into the Kalder mountains. The people of this village have to hunker down for the winter, when days become short and dangerous creatures roam the skies, swooping down on any hint of light below. Music is deeply sacred in Asthald, and binds the village's people together. These bonds serve as comfort in the dark winter months, as because of that, every single one of the songs is about love of some kind. Because of this, Asthald is renowned as the most loved area in the world: its people sing of their love for the wilds, for each other, and for music itself. The land absorbs that strong fondness, and thus it has the most beautiful waterfalls in all of Kaldrvik, and the most melodious songbirds.

Hopscotch: Update old articles

The world of Sonatine has been private since its creation, so I have a lot of articles in it that have never seen the light of day! This week, I will focus on updating those about this world's gods. Sonatine has twelve gods, each associated with a key (as in music). As they are updated and finally published (though I may edit or add to them in the future), they will appear below!

Week 2

Assignment: Choosing an area of focus

This summer, I am going to focus on the culture and day-to-day lives of the people of Sonatine. This can include cuisine, holidays, fashion, architecture, and more but not magic, gods, or governments. I want this summer's worldbuilding to be vibrant and cozy, so a lot of food worldbuilding will likely be involved!

Hopscotch: Concepts to Explore

• Cuisine: recipes, the foods found in different areas, cultural and historical connections to food, and other related traditions.
• Fashion: the clothing popular in each region based on weather and history, meanings of colors in each area, and holiday attire.
• Holidays and Festivals: seasonal festivals, god-related holidays, and historically-related events.
• Symbolism: symbols in different regions and their meanings (like the language of flowers), reasons for these symbols and connections.
• Daily Routine: common professions in each region, daily activities, popular hobbies.
• Imagery: descriptions of settlements, shops and businesses, and beautiful vistas around Sonatine.

Week 3

Assignment: Planning Writing Time

July will be a very busy month for me: starting from the 9th, I'll have about a week without access to the internet. Once that finishes, I'll be off to Quebec to immerse myself in French, to aid in learning the language. That trip will go on until August 1st, so it truly takes up my whole summer.

That said, I will devote a lot of time to Summer Camp during the first week of July, before I leave on my various trips. I don't have enough plans ahead of time to choose specific dates, but I will work on it some while in Quebec: as long as I keep it to short, daily writing sessions (perhaps 100 words a day), it shouldn't interfere with my language immersion at all. Small, daily writing sessions work well for me, and that is how I plan to tackle this year's Summer Camp prompts!

Hopscotch: Spending some time in my favorite fictional worlds

Reflecting on the intricate worldbuilding of my favorite media is something that always inspires me: with my area of focus (culture), I'll need all the intricacy I can get! I'll be diving into a few of my most favorite fictional worlds, and I have chosen them based on their fascinating cultures in particular. The main worlds I thought of for this are: the world of Genshin Impact, the world of Heaven Official's Blessing, and the world of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone.

My Plan:

• Listen to music from these worlds, if possible. Genshin Impact has an extensive and beautiful soundtrack that always gets my mind into creative mode.
• Reread favorite scenes from books. The imagery in Heaven Official's Blessing is great, especially for inspiration in describing settlements, and Six of Crows is full of incredibly immersive worldbuilding.
• Read fanfiction within those worlds. I read just as much fanfiction as I do books, and they have become a great resource for immersing myself in a fictional world and basking in the beauty of creativity. There are some truly inspirational works out there, and they could put me in the right headspace for creating my own vibrant cultures.
• Look at artwork of places in these worlds, especially cities and settlements, where people gather and the beautifully built cultures are palpable.

I'm excited to dive into some of my favorite worlds, especially ones I haven't been thinking about for a long time. Hopefully they'll give me exactly the spark I'll need to forge new ideas this Summer Camp.